


Standing On The Borderline

by Crab_Lad



Category: Original Work
Genre: After Chapter 1, Canon Non-Binary Character, Death, Idk i'm writing this as i go, Non-binary character, Other, Platonic Relationships, Robots, TW: surgeries, Temporary Death, Trans Female Character, but its gonna be Intense!, death?, plot??, tags??, transgender character, tw: doctors, tw: needles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 02:30:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20127886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crab_Lad/pseuds/Crab_Lad
Summary: Life is but a dream, as they say. Isa Valentine remembers dying, surrounded by family. It was a nice death; she thought. Until she woke up in a strange, sterile room. Apparently, there was life after death. It's an uneasy place, and she feels there's something they're not telling her. Her only comfort in this place: a robot who doesn't even know when he was created.





	Standing On The Borderline

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This is the first piece of original writing I'm posting on this website. I hope you all enjoy it. I've worked a little on it but I've really just been sitting on it for several months. It's based off of a writing prompt i found on tumblr but I kinda distanced myself from the prompt by switching some stuff about it. Anyway. Enjoy!!

The beeping of the monitor faded as my vision darkens. I had lived a long life, there was nothing more for me to do. I could hear the quiet murmur of the doctors getting fainter, and fainter. They were trying to keep me alive, but there wasn’t a point. I was satisfied. It was time for me to go. 

With a weak smile, I closed my eyes, embracing death.

And then-

I woke up. 

My eyes were assaulted by the blinding white light of the room I woke up in. The air here- it was different. Thicker. Not like the light feeling of the air back home. The sounds here, they were louder too. Every brush of a coat, every slide of a pen on a paper. It smelled of a hospital, like the one i was just in yet, sharper. Real. 

“Welcome to the real world, Miss Valentine. We’ve been waiting for you to awaken.”

The voice that spoke held an air of coldness. There was no emotion, but there was a hint of static.

I tried to sit up, to open my eyes but I couldn’t move a muscle. Everything ached, as if I had been laying on the ground my whole life. 

“Ah, I wouldn’t advise you moving just yet. We have yet to start the waking process. Your waking came a bit sudden. I will fetch the doctors.”

There was a whirring sound and then I’m left alone. In the silence I go over everything I know.

My name: Isa Valentine.

Parents: James and Amanda Valentine

Last thing I knew: my daughter and son visited me in the hospital before I died.

Before I died.

My mind flew into a panic, was this the afterlife? I was dead right? So why did everything feel so real? More real than when I had been alive. 

I struggled, forcing every inch of my body to move, move, move. I was only successful in getting my fingers to lift up an inch. 

“Miss Valentine, I told you, I don’t suggest you move just yet. The doctors will be here in a minute.”

The whirring was back, along with the staticy voice. 

“I am C29MR4, or as everyone knows me here by; Cameron. I will be your caretaker until you are released.”

I struggled to make a noise, but my throat felt like sand. It hurt to even think about talking.

“I almost forgot! You must be thirsty. I understand when you first wake up it can be disorienting.”

There wass a freezing sensation, along with a liquid dripping down my throat and suddenly, my throat felt better.

“Wh-” I broke off, my voice weak. “Where… am I?”

“You’re in Omega-2. What you’ve known previously as ‘life’ was a dream. You’ve awoken in the real world.”

“What do you-”

I cut off, breaking off into violent coughs. I heard the swish of a door, footsteps and suddenly I was being lowered back.

The world faded once more, and I can only fade with it.

* * *

The next time I woke, I was actually able to move my body. I was still unable to open my eyes, but I could reach my arm out, feel up and down. 

I was surprised to find that I still had my leg. I had lost it in a near fatal accident in high school. 

I had just recently come out as trans at the time, and some jocks thought it would be a good idea to ram right into my car. I almost died, and lost my leg. They only got a month in jail. 

I felt higher, realizing with dread, this isn’t my body this wasn’t the body I was supposed to have. 

My breathing picked up, I grasped the edge of the table I was on. I couldn’t- no I had already transitioned, this wasn’t supposed to- no-

“-entine. Miss Valentine, you need to calm down. Stressing yourself out won’t do you any good. You need to breathe.”

The robot- that’s what I’ve come to realize about them- started counting. I followed the counting, struggling to keep my breathing in a structured pattern. 

“There you go. I know this is a bit alarming for you, but you have not gone through your transition here. I should also mention to you that you are currently 16 years old. We’re going to keep you here for an extra week and hopefully speed up your transition for you. Don’t worry Isa, You’re going to be fine.”

At least they weren’t dicks. They had called me “miss” from the start.

“Just rest for now, you’re going to be okay.”

Once more, I sank into the darkness.

—-

I opened my eyes, yet everything was blurry. The light was harsh, hurting. I almost wanted to go back to sleep. But I didn’t, because I actually opened my eyes.

I moved my arm, finding it easier to do, and pulled myself up. It was difficult, with my arms all wobbly. But I managed to, and once I was up I took in my surroundings. I still couldn’t see clearly, which meant I didn’t have my glasses. What I could see though, was white floor, white walls, white ceiling. There was a single table next to me, and the bed I was in was just as white as the walls. There was a glass of water on the table and what looked like applesauce that I eagerly picked up and inhaled. 

The door swooshed open and in walked a gray being. Cameron. This must be Cameron. Their face consisted of two LEDs for eyes, a single speaker for a mouth. They were built like a human, but entirely metal, and gray. 

“Ah, I see you’ve woken,” they said moving over to me. I set down the bowl and turned to them. 

My throat was significantly less dry this time when I said, “You… you said that I’m going to be stuck here for another week?”

I heard the faint whirring of whatever was making up Cameron grown the slightest bit louder. “Yes, keeping you here a week longer will allow us to attempt and help you progress faster in your transition to physically being female.”

“Oh.” I swallowed, my throat still feeling weird from what I could only assume was years upon years of unuse. I reached for the glass of water, taking a long sip of it. I cleared my throat as I set the glass back down, noticing that my throat felt only slightly better. “Do you… Do you have the ability to explain to me everything that’s happening?” 

“Yes, I do. You see, what you had just experienced was just you dreaming. From what I am told, whenever your dream-self dies it means you are finally ready to begin life in the real world, the world we are in now. The Dream, as some call it, was kind of like a video game tutorial,” Cameron explained, filling my glass of water back up at the same time.

“So… everything I experienced… everyone I loved… was fake?” The thought struck home. The idea that the woman I loved for most of my life had been fake… it crushed me.

“Oh no they were very much real. They do exist in this world. I do believe Margret is waiting for you. Once your son and daughter die, they will join Omega-2 as well.”

The top of the bed starts rising up to meet me, and just then I notice how I started to fall back.

“Don’t strain yourself. It’ll take a little while for you to gain strength. Until then, rest.”

I watch Cameron press a button, and the world goes black for the fiftieth time.

—

“I’m getting real sick of being knocked out,” I said right as I woke up. My throat felt better than ever before. My head no longer felt foggy, and I could actually move my arms around without feeling like I would pass out. 

“Sorry Miss Valentine, it’s all part of the process. You need to save up your strength,” Cameron answered, checking off things on the clipboard. A ‘routine check’ they had said. 

“Please, Just call me Isa,” I told him, grabbing the food that was on the table. 

Cameron looked at me silently, before turning back to their work, “If that is what you prefer.” 

We were both quiet for a while. They continue walking around, checking the monitors around me. Every so often they scribble something down.

This is the longest I’ve been awake in a while, and it’s refreshing. I can actually start to get my thoughts together. I’m used to the smell of the hospital at this point, after what I believe has been 2 days, it’s just become normal. Though I can’t wait till I can get up and move around finally. Being restless while your muscles don’t work is… not a fun experience. 

There’s something peaceful in the moment. Despite everything not being what it should, despite the fact that everything I knew had been flipped on its side, I feel at peace here. Like there’s nothing that could go wrong. It’s peaceful. 

Safe, but fragile.


End file.
